'Shocking' act: Koala mowed down on golf course

RAY Chambers has been rescuing wildlife for years, but he has never seen anything like the scene that confronted him at a Sunshine Coast golf course on Friday.

A big, healthy male koala, "in his prime", had been run over by a golf buggy at Noosa Springs Golf Course and left to die in agony.

"You can see the blood trail from the concrete path the buggies use to go back to the clubhouse," Mr Chambers said.

"He's been hit on the path and he's probably crawled himself three to four metres into the trees and passed away."

The koala, who Mr Chambers and the Koala Rescue Queensland team named Augusta, suffered horrific injuries to his abdomen.

"He would have died in agony," Mr Chambers said.

And what's more, whoever ran him over drove on and did not report it.

"I'm disgusted," Mr Chambers said.

"It's a pretty low act as far as I'm concerned."

Mr Chambers estimated there were only about 30 koalas left in the Noosa area and the loss of a healthy, breeding male was all the more devastating because it happened what was generally considered a safe haven.

"Golf courses these days are safe, relocatable areas because they've got bush and they're away from road traffic," he said.

"It's pretty much the only place we can release them safely."

The koala rescuers are hoping the driver of the buggy, or anyone who has information about the koalas death, will come forward.

"It's very disappointing," Mr Chambers said.

"This is what we've got to face all the time. We go in and hit our heads against the wall and wonder why people do these things.